By Marc Powell I have not met many students who love playing their scales. Scales are the green vegetables that are left on the plate and passed off to the dog under the dinner table. Here are some quick tips to help inspire your students to enjoy their scales: 1. Change up the rhythm: If one of my students has trouble with the fingering of a scale, I...
Read MoreBy Alyssa Cowell We offer formal vocal training at The Catoctin School of Music. Many times students sign up for voice lessons expecting to learn a new song every week, or practice singing songs that they hear on YouTube or Spotify. This is not the purpose of voice lessons. Formal vocal training is all about evaluating a student’s current vocal technique and teaching them to change...
Read Moreby Drew Holcomb The classical guitar is a world-renowned instrument and has undergone many transformations to get where it is today. From the medieval, renaissance, and to the baroque era, the classical guitar has been revolutionized. The baroque classical guitar, in particular, was one of the more dominant instruments in music history, but it had to undergo many steps to get there. Through its improvements in...
Read MoreBy Marc Powell I was recently asked by one of my high school seniors to write a letter of recommendation for his college application. This was my first time being asked, so it took a bit of asking around and researching how to do this. Here is what I figured out to make it easy: -Write honestly and constructively – The letter should make it sound the...
Read MoreBy Julia Kossuth One of the blessings of teaching is the impact you get to make on each individual student's life. Often times, a lesson isn't about musical progress so much as it's about helping that child wherever they are at in life at the moment. From behavioral problems to problems at school, from celebrating achievements and events to getting to know what's on a student's heart,...
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